The present and the future is in the cloud, "Cloud" in English, that is, in online services. The Internet is a convenient place to save and archive files, to keep a backup copy or to always have them at hand, whatever computer you use, even from a mobile phone, from anywhere. The only problem with "Cloud" services is the confidentiality of data : who ensures that they remain private, confidential and that they do not end up in the wrong hands "> main online storage services or" cloud drives "such as Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive they allow you to upload data in an encrypted way but, once saved in the available space, you have to trust these companies Then on the client side, on the computers used to access the files through the applications, the files remain visible to other people who access the same PC.
Some programs or services then become useful to password protect access to private data, without renouncing to upload them online to cloud services . It is not possible to view these files in the web interface of the cloud storage service or from the application on the computer, without knowing the password set in the encryption tool used.
Among the main ways to protect files uploaded to cloud data storage services are:
1) If you are concerned about the security of the most popular cloud services, you can choose to use one of those that encrypt data and are the most secure Cloud Storage.
Among the safest Cloud Storage we have:
- SpiderOak considered one of the safest cloud storage providers, also approved by Edward Snowden. SpiderOak One Backup is a complete alternative to Google Drive or Dropbox that works as a secure encrypted archive. The One Backup service is available as a subscription, ranging from $ 6 a month for 150 GB of storage space to $ 29 a month for a maximum of 5 TB. All plans allow you to access files from an unlimited number of devices.
- Tresorit is one of the best encrypted and therefore secure cloud storage alternatives. The service ensures that all data is end-to-end encrypted on the client side with AES256 before being uploaded to their servers. This means that only the user can see the content of the uploads. The service is for businesses, but there is also a plan intended for people with the ability to create a 2, 000 GB account of storage space, access to up to 10 devices and two-factor authentication (2FA) for $ 30. per month.
2) Use a specific App like BoxCryptor
BoxCryptor is a free application that allows you to encrypt files saved in OneDrive, Google Drive and Dropbox using AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption. You can also share protected files with other people, giving them the ID that is automatically generated.
This app I had already explained in another post, on how to protect files saved on Dropbox with passwords .
3) Next Cloud does not provide physical storage space, but it is open source and free to use and protects data with end-to-end encryption (E2E). You download the program and then you can protect a cloud like Google Drive or others. This combines the convenience of many cloud services while maintaining control of data and privacy. They have clients for all major desktop operating systems and mobile apps for Android and iOS.
4) Internxt Cloud combines peer-to-peer file sharing, end-to-end encryption and blockchain to create a decentralized cloud storage platform. The user interface is very similar to Dropbox and most of the significant security features are hidden. Internxt X Cloud is available on the web and through their Android and iOS apps with 1 GB of free storage and paid plans.
5) Encrypt individual files
If all this were a little too complicated, you can simply choose to encrypt only those few important files, with a protection program on your computer.
In another article, the best programs to protect files and folders on your computer encrypted with passwords.
